Assessment of the effects of ICT reforms on the pension business process: A case of pension department ministry of finance in Kenya
Abstract
The Pension Department operates under the Ministry of Finance and has the
responsibility of administering public officers' pension scheme. Its mandate is founded
under the constitution, and the Pension Act Cap 189-Laws of Kenya and several statutes
that deal with pension. According to the pension Act, the eligible persons are civil
servants and their dependents. Pension's Management Information System (PMIS) was
installed in the Pension Department to enhance processes, procedures and facilitate an
efficient information system within the department. It was installed to address the poorly
managed and coordinated old computerized information system that led to many
complaints on financial accountability and transparency from the public. It was also
meant to ensure prudent management of Government finances through the use of
comprehensive, timely and reliable pensioners/financial information.
The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of ICT reforms In the Pension
Department in enhancing work efficiency and effectiveness of the business processes in
department. In a nutshell, has transparency, management effectiveness and accountability
been enhanced by the installation of PMIS? By answering these questions, the study
aimed at evaluating the department's business processes for work effectiveness and
efficiency in the business processing activities.
Both qualitative and quantitative research approaches were used to collect data from the
randomly selected persons in every division as well as the project managers. The sample
size selected was 108 but the achieved was 98 making 91% success response rate.
In conclusion, the PMIS has enhanced transparency, accountability, improved on
communication, reduced the procedure for doing work and reduced the errors in payment
system. However, staffs are not adequately trained for the task and the staff capacity is
also quite low. This has posed a major challenge to the pension staff and management on
adequate usage of PMIS